Out of 22 researched European countries, only four require universal service providers (USPs) to offer postal redirection services through postal regulations. However, in practice, all studied USPs offer this service usually on a commercial basis.

These are some of the conclusions from a new benchmark published by Cullen International, which gathered information on postal redirection services in regulation and in practice. Postal redirection services allow end users to forward postal items sent to an old address or defer delivery for a given period.

Redirection services are imposed on the USP as part of the universal service obligation in Ireland, Norway and the United Kingdom. Austria is the only researched country in which all postal service providers must provide the option to forward mail items.

The availability and pricing of such services may differ based on the duration of the redirection period, whether the service is provided for letters or parcels and domestically or internationally, and whether the client is a residential or business user.

While the variety of pricing approaches makes systematic cross-country comparison difficult, Cullen International’s research showed that the price for domestic letter redirection for residential users may range from free of charge in Estonia (though it is only offered in exceptional circumstances) to €76.30 in Finland.

Cullen International’s postal regulatory intelligence service follows the latest EU-level and national developments.

Benchmark Scope
Region: Europe
Countries covered: 22
Policy area: Postal
Last updated: April 2026

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